Sunday At The Farmhouse...

Delicious Food At The Farmhouse

Yesterday couldn't have been more perfect. The sun was out, the weather was warm, and I joyfully spent the day in the kitchen. 

I began the day (after taking care of the Barn Girls) making a batch of hickory syrup. Once that was done, I mixed up the makings for focaccia. Focaccia starts with a wet mix called "poolish" that needs ten to fifteen hours to ferment. I made that on Saturday afternoon.

After the poolish is fermented, it's added to the rest of the ingredients and that begins a series of further fermentation until it's ready to form into pans. Fully formed and fermented, I added cooked Italian sausage, hand-grated Parmesan cheese, and caramelized onions. Top with a little basil and red pepper flakes, and it was ready for the oven. I also made a tomato/onion/green pepper mix that I roasted as a side dish for the focaccia.

As the focaccia was fermenting, I took another twenty minutes to hand churn some butter. I hadn't tried that before, but I'd purchased a Kilner churner when we first moved here, and I decided it was time to take it for a spin. Handsome helped me turn the churner crank when my hand got tired, but it really didn't take long for the butter to take shape. 300ml of whipping cream was turned into 3.5 ounces of salted butter, and 3/4 cup of buttermilk (which is the perfect amount for a batch of buttermilk biscuits later this week). 

All the photographs in the mosaic show 1) finished hickory syrup, and then clockwise 2) focaccia - before and after, and 3) butter - after and before. As always, you can click on the mosaic to enlarge it for a better view.

I'll be working in the studio today, but yesterday in the kitchen was really wonderful. I must make a point of doing that more often. I'm going to get the hickory syrup labeled, and an order of it packed and shipped first. I'd better get busy!